UAE plans ICO Regulations for 2019

The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) recently announced that its Board of Directors has approved a plan to regulate initial coin offerings (ICOs) and recognize them as securities, which will allow companies to issue crypto tokens instead of shares. The regulation is expected to be in place in the first half of 2019. The proposed framework will regulate crypto-asset activities, including ICOs, exchanges, and other intermediaries, and will cover key risks such as anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing, consumer protection, technology governance, and safe custody.